Lord Drayson: The military medical branch comprises members of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF commissioned cadres and non-commissioned other ranks, which together form the Defence Medical Services (DMS).
	The commissioned cadres comprise medical and dental officers, nursing officers, and commissioned members of some allied health profession cadres.
	All DMS officers are commissioned and career managed and gain promotion through respective single service regulations.
	Medical and Dental Officers
	Medical and dental officers enter service either on a bursary/cadetship while still at university; through direct entry once qualified, post-graduation; or on re-entry terms for those who re-join the Armed Forces after previous service.
	Commissions offered comprise:
	short commission (SC) (six years);medium commission (MC) (a maximum of18 years reckonable service); and full commission (FC), which enables service to the normal retirement age (NRA) of 58 years with the possibility of extending to age 60 years.
	Following graduation as a doctor and having completed basic military training, which varies in length between each service, junior medical officers may elect to progress their professional training either as a general medical practitioner or follow a hospital-based specialist career, where training can take about 10 years or more to complete.
	Normally, on graduation medical officers are promoted to OF2 rank (Surgeon Lieutenant (RN)/Captain (Army)/Flight Lieutenant (RAF)). OF3 rank (Surgeon Lieutenant Commander/Major/Squadron Leader) is gained by timed promotion, normally on the date of attaining five years seniority in the rank of OF2. Promotion to substantive OF4 rank (Surgeon Commander/Lieutenant Colonel/Wing Commander) follows after six years seniority in the substantive OF3 rank. Individuals would be eligible for substantive promotion to OF5 (Surgeon Captain/Colonel/Group Captain) rank, usually having attained eight years seniority in the rank of OF4. Progression to OF6 rank (Surgeon Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore) is on having attained three years seniority in the substantive rank of OF5 and having been selected for the higher medical management medical pay spine. Beyond OF6 promotion is by selection on merit to a specific appointment.
	Nurses
	Members of the nursing cadre are either commissioned officers or non-commissioned other rank (OR).
	Types of commission are:
	SC being six years reckonable service extended to eight years if required;MC to a total of 16 years; and FC up to a NRA of 55 years for OF5 rank and below. Promotion is on eligibility with an expectation to reach OF4 rank after about 14 years' service.
	Nursing officers enter the services at either OF1 or OF2 rank (depending on their experience). On reaching four years seniority at OF1 nursing officers can receive automatic promotion to OF2. Promotion to OF3 is subject to selection after four years served in the rank of OF2. Officers are eligible for selection for promotion to OF4 rank after six years at OF3 rank, provided that they can complete two complete years at the higher rank. Officers are only promoted into OF4 ranks provided there is a suitable vacancy for them to fill. Officers of OF4 rank can be selected for promotion to OF5 after four years' substantive service. Again they are required to be able to complete two complete years at the higher rank and are promoted only into suitable vacancies. Promotion to higher ranks is by selection only.
	Nursing officers are registered nurses on the appropriate part of the Register of the Nursing Midwifery Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and have a minimum of two years recognised post-registration experience. They normally enter as direct entry officers up to the age of 39 years.
	Re-entrant officers can re-enter service up to the maximum age of 49 years with previous military service recognised and relevant intervening experience calculated to give additional seniority up to a maximum of six years.
	OR student nurses can join their service via one of two routes. Those on student route 1 commence nurse training having first completed basic recruit training. Those on student route 2 make an internal trade transfer from other trade groups into the nursing cadre. There is a direct entry (DE) for qualified nurses under the age of 33 years. Commissioning opportunities are available for OR nurses.
	Allied Health Practitioners (AHPs)
	AHPs comprise a wide range of medical specialties, ranging from non-commissioned cadres such as dental hygienists and healthcare assistants, to fully-commissioned cadres such as physiotherapists and environmental health officers. Commissioned AHPs generally are on the same terms and conditions of service as the rest of the non-medical branchesof the three services, with potential maximum promotion to OF5 (Colonel-equivalent) rank. Entry into this group is either on commissioned terms as DE, or by promotion from the ranks. Maximum commissioned service can be to age 55 years. OR entrants can be either DE if already qualified or they can enlist and be trained within the military structure for some AHP non-commissioned trades.

Earl Attlee: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What records they have for each of the pastfive years of prosecutions and convictions for the offence of corruption or offences related to corruption.

Lord Triesman: We welcome the ceasefire on 19 May between the Palestinian factional groups and Palestinian President Abbas's recent efforts to ensure that it holds. We also welcome his efforts to try to persuade Palestinian militant groups to respect the ceasefire with Israel and restore law and order to Gaza.
	On 30 May, the quartet (EU, UN, US and Russia) called for all Palestinians immediately to renounce all acts of violence and respect the ceasefire. It also strongly condemned the continued firing of Qassam rockets into Israel and endorsed President Abbas's call for an immediate end to such violence. The quartet expressed its concern about Israeli actions in Gaza and urged Israel to exercise restraint to ensure that its security operations avoid civilian casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure. The quartet has agreed to meet in June with both parties to review progress and discuss the way forward. The full quartet statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth website at: www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1082829112886.
	The EU has called for the parties to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza and to extend it to the West Bank. We, along with the quartet, will encourage them to respect the existing ceasefires.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Local authorities are under a general duty under the Smallholdings and Allotments Act 1908, if they are of the opinion that there is a demand for allotments in their area, to provide a sufficient number of allotments for those of their residents who wish to take on one. The sole statutory obligation of the London Development Agency (LDA) is to compensate the allotment holders for the loss of their allotments.
	However, while the LDA is not under any statutory obligation, it is nevertheless working closely with the allotment holders and making strenuous efforts to relocate the allotments until 2014. After this date the Olympic legacy proposals provide for a new permanent allotment site to be allocated within the Olympic Park.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: All training for prison managers has, at its heart, the welfare and effective supervision of both staff and prisoners.
	Interpersonal skills, professional standards, wing security and dynamic security training for new prison officers was revised following recommendations in the Mubarek report. This is to ensure that officers realise the importance of building an understanding rapport with prisoners to enable them to be held decently and safely.

Lord Triesman: We have been clear in our private discussions with the Russian Government and in our public statements that we have concerns about the situation of democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Russia. We are committed to continued engagement with Russia on these issues, including through the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe has played an important role in the promotion of human rights, rule of law and democracy in Russia and, importantly, gives Russian citizens access to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
	The Council of Europe's monitoring mechanisms have regularly reported on the level of Russia's compliance with Council of Europe commitments. We continue to urge Russia to make progress in implementing the recommendations of these bodies. Russia is also subject to the scrutiny of the Committee of Ministers in which we play an active role. Furthermore, judgments of the ECHR in certain cases brought by Russian citizens against the Russian Federation have highlighted areas where the level of protection of human rights in Russia is inconsistent with its Council of Europe obligations. The Committee of Ministers supervises the execution of these judgments.